2 or 3 ADRs per day, how do you do it?

I've been reading the lists of ADRs folks are making for September. Sounds like over all most are getting "close" to what they want, not exactly, but somewhat close. I've seen some pretty impressive lists.

But every time I look at a list that has 2 or 3 ADRs per day, I can't help but think "HOLY COW, how do they do it?" . Is there any time left in the day for playing in the parks? I can't help but see a scenario where someone is eating breakfast, looks at their watch and realizes "Hey! We need to get going if we're going to make it to lunch in time". And then if some are buffets, wow, that a lot of food.

I know everyone tours WDW in their own way, but I just couldn't do it. Chef Mickey's at 8, Biergarten at noon, Crystal Palace at 6.... 10 hours, 3 buffets, now that would be a day of eating. But somewhere in there, at least for me, there would have to be a serious nap , and maybe a wheelbarrrow to get me back to my room in the evening .

We do 2 or 3 a day. My kids don't sleep and need me to force that break on them during the day. If they calm down and relax at lunch and then again around dinner, they are set for the day. They can stay up until 9 or 10 and be ready to go at 7 the next morning. If we don't do that, they are very, very tired. They also like character meals- so we usually do those for breakfast. We don't spend that much time (maybe an hour) eating TS, buffets are less. We def. don't get our moneys worth from a buffet (one trip usually), but that's not why we are going- the kids want to see the characters.

We do 2 or 3 a day. My kids don't sleep and need me to force that break on them during the day. If they calm down and relax at lunch and then again around dinner, they are set for the day. They can stay up until 9 or 10 and be ready to go at 7 the next morning. If we don't do that, they are very, very tired. They also like character meals- so we usually do those for breakfast. We don't spend that much time (maybe an hour) eating TS, buffets are less. We def. don't get our moneys worth from a buffet (one trip usually), but that's not why we are going- the kids want to see the characters.

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that's what we do... we kinda use the dining as a break. especially for our next trip in super hot august... will be nice to at least have someplace to get into the air conditioning, rehydrate and have a nibble, while seeing some characters. It's a great break for us, and afterwards me and kids are good as new and ready for the parks again! it's easier for us to take a dining break, then head out to the busses, make it back to the resort for some downtime, and then take the busses back to the park. I did try to schedule our meals that are 3 per day to be lighter meals. Such as Norway lunch I am sure we won't be a huge fan of, but that's okay, we'll see the princesses, and already had breakfast not too long before that and want to leave room for dinner. I tried not to stick big buffets as three meals in one day that would all be really filling.

Last year we did DxDDP and had two ADRs per day: usually a late character breakfast or early character lunch then a signature dinner. It worked magnificently for us. My kids are on Mountain time and night owls anyway, getting to the parks at rope drop is hard for them, but they understand the necessity. So, anyway, by 11 a.m. they are ready for a break and a character meal is perfect since it is distracting from their tiredness and usually briskly paced. We then have a nice nap, then hit the parks, get a snack and head to lateish dinner.

Now, here's the thing: we have been to WDW lots in the past few years. At this point, we are able to usually get our park must dos done in the first few hours of park opening. Plus, dining is an important part of our WDW experience and worth time taken away from the parks. BUT If I were going to WDW on a once-in-a-lifetime trip or even a once-every-few-years trip, I wouldn't schedule 2 or 3 ADRs per day because I think the priority would be the parks.

We all go to WDW for different reasons. You know you could flip what you said and say, "I wonder if people really intend to go from one 30 minute wait for that ride...and then look at their watches and think, if we hurry we can make into the 45 minute wait over at that ride before lunch."

And don't get me started on those of us who actually spend time at our resorts! Whew. "My room is not just a bed and indoor shower stall" concept.

I'm joking. We all need to respect that its a vacation and that means different things to different people. And its all okay.

It worked great fo us because we used the DxDP. We scheduled mainly Character meals that would be entertaining for DD3 and DS5...we also looked at the meals as breaks for us. what really helped was that we were there for Christmas Schedule so with AK and MK opening at 7 am we were able to get some park time in before breakfast, had a later lunch and later dinner without returning to the parks or leaving after dinner if it was in the parks. As far as the amount of food...just because it is a buffet you don't have to eat it all.
The great thing about Character meals is that the kids were able to see their friends without waiting in lines in the parks which would take away from ride time anyway.

We're Florida residents and so go to Disney quite a bit. For us, the dining is a nice break from the parks. We are not trying to see everything in one trip, since we know we'll be back (for example, we're going in July, then September, then a cruise in November and I'm trying to find a good deal for January...). We like to try different restaurant experiences and pace ourselves with the parks. We're just much happier that way. If this trip was my only trip for 5 years or something, I'd feel differently, I'm sure. But, for us, it works as a nice respite and fun experience. Luckily, my daughter is used to dining out, as Mom doesn't cook, lol.

We often do 2 TS meals per day on the DxDP. I love a big breakfast and DS4 loves characters, so we have taken to doing at least one character meal in the parks. I like doing the Tusker House breakfast in Animal Kingdom before the park opens. It doesn't take away from touring time (we have an 8:05 reservation and park opens at 9am), and actually helps us because it's right near the safari, so we are already in the back of the park before anyone else. This day, we'll either grab a CS lunch on our way out, or have a snack and wait until dinner.

We also have one day where we are doing a CP lunch in the MK at 1pm. We plan to be there at 8am (AM EMH) and tour everything we can before lunch. Since we always take a break after lunch, the meal is part of the break, then we'll head back to our resort, nap or swim.

We also eat dinner as a sit down meal, just like we do at home. Either we eat in a park, or one of the hotels close to the park and then we can decide if we want to go back to the parks or head to bed. With a four year old, the breaks are nice and helps us keep a schedule.

I am with a lot of hte PPs. We use dining as a break. Instead of heading back to the resort for a nap, down time for us and the kids is at a nice restaurant. We do 2-3 meals a day, with a couple of signatures.

I think its the same as if people go back to the hotel to relax and go in the pool. We don't do that at all and in my opinion, it wastes a lot of time. Just traveling from park to park or park to hotel takes a long time. We also don't have little kids with us so I know my feelings would be totally different if we did. Our down time is table service. We take our time and relax in the air condition. We also try not to stuff ourselves. This will be the first time we're on the deluxe dining plan so i KNOW it'll be a LOT of food. We're going to try hard to NOT eat everything.

I've been reading the lists of ADRs folks are making for September. Sounds like over all most are getting "close" to what they want, not exactly, but somewhat close. I've seen some pretty impressive lists.

But every time I look at a list that has 2 or 3 ADRs per day, I can't help but think "HOLY COW, how do they do it?" . Is there any time left in the day for playing in the parks? I can't help but see a scenario where someone is eating breakfast, looks at their watch and realizes "Hey! We need to get going if we're going to make it to lunch in time". And then if some are buffets, wow, that a lot of food.

I know everyone tours WDW in their own way, but I just couldn't do it. Chef Mickey's at 8, Biergarten at noon, Crystal Palace at 6.... 10 hours, 3 buffets, now that would be a day of eating. But somewhere in there, at least for me, there would have to be a serious nap , and maybe a wheelbarrrow to get me back to my room in the evening .

Hope everyone has fantastic time on their trips.

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THIS is exactly why the Deluxe did not work for my family. Too much time in restaurants (1 1/2 hours each time) THEN the travel time and wahLa, your day is shot./...so if your trip is about "food" DO it, you will love it. But if Park time is the priority I always feel like I should tell people (especially those that think they have to do a sit down for every meal to make out on the deal) that TIME is not in your favor with the DDP IMHO.
Well, that being said, we find the basic dining plan AWESOME match for us and have been Very lucky to have Disney pay for Our food for the last 4 trips, ....thats Good and Yummy too,

We stick to one a day but if we do two we do an 8 am breakfast in the park and then a dinner around 5-6. We also go during slow times so doing 3 a day would eat up a lot of park time when the parks close around 7-8 pm. Doing lunch around noon-1 would eat up 1.5-2 hours and then lunch around 5-6 would eat up the last 1.5-2 hours of park time.

DH and I plan on doing the DXDP when we go when the kids are a bit older or we go alone. Plan on doing lots of character breakfasts and signature dinners.

We just flat don't like CS. We do the deluxe plan and don't eat CS hardly if at all on our trips these days, and that means more than one ADR per day. It really isn't all that different than having a TS meal and a CS meal or two. We make sure there isn't a ton of travel involved by booking meals in/near the park we're in for the day, and we really don't feel like having nice meals cuts into our park time substantially more than having one sit down meal and one hot, overcrowded counter service did. It is just a more relaxing way to spend the dining time.

I think its the same as if people go back to the hotel to relax and go in the pool. We don't do that at all and in my opinion, it wastes a lot of time. Just traveling from park to park or park to hotel takes a long time. We also don't have little kids with us so I know my feelings would be totally different if we did. Our down time is table service. We take our time and relax in the air condition. We also try not to stuff ourselves. This will be the first time we're on the deluxe dining plan so i KNOW it'll be a LOT of food. We're going to try hard to NOT eat everything.

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That's a good point too. Even with kids, we don't do midday breaks. We tried it on our first trip, and what happened was the kids dozed off on the bus back to the resort, got to the room and wanted to change to go swimming. Then, when it was time to head back to the park, they were having so much fun in the pool that they didn't want to get back on the bus to go back. So now we use our midday meal as our break.

We do 2 or 3 TS a day...its part of our Disney vacation...the cs meals don't have alot of choices that my son would eat (he does not eat PPJ, chicken nuggets, mac&cheese or hot dogs). Plus eating at a TS is more relaxing and we are on vacation. We take our time in the park and take it nice and slow b/c we know we will be back if we didn't get to do or ride that day. My son loves character meals so we do alot of them. We also do alot fo deluxe dinning.

dining is an important part of our WDW experience and worth time taken away from the parks. BUT If I were going to WDW on a once-in-a-lifetime trip or even a once-every-few-years trip, I wouldn't schedule 2 or 3 ADRs per day because I think the priority would be the parks.

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I completely agree. It's the same for us. We go every year and dining, especially character meals and some of the signature restaurants, is as much a part of our experience as is a ride on Dumbo.

Touring with small children makes the dining breaks a pleasure. Maybe when the kids are older we'll change our plans but right now character dining and a break from the heat is worth the time.

I would do 2 ADRs a day if we could but w/ a 2 yr old on our last trip & a new baby coming this fall, we think it would be too hard to get 2 little ones to sit through more than 1 sit down meal a day.
We are hoping to be able to do the DxDP in a few yrs when they are past the 5 yr old mark.